Water Wall — A Dream

An artfully altered photo of gray vertical lines that lose structure at the edges...
“Water Wall” — C.Birde, 10/21

Confinement

cast in barren walls;

smooth-polished floors

of wood

A spartan space

Devoid of comfort,

coloration,

but for a single blue-gray

drape that stirs –

alive with motion –

draws attention

to stretched-wide

sliding doors of glass

Step through…

(bare feet exposed

to metallic bite

of the threshold’s sill…)

& pass without…

A cloistered deck awaits….

(O, secondary ruse…)

Gaze up, neck craned…

Witness to impossibility,

to the unprecedented –

A looming verticality

of storm-gray water…

A towering sea-wall

barricade that sways & ripples,

looms & eddies,

a-swim in motion overhead…

Extend a hand…

trace white curls & lines

of foam…

touch small leaves of ochre

caught in spiral currents,

& recognize…

(with sudden indrawn breath)

the trap’s new-altered

height & width & length.

Although recast, reshaped,

confinement yet

     remains.

— C.Birde, 10/21

Burnished — An Image

An artfully altered photo looking through the trees of shadow-stroked, leaf-carpeted earth.
“Burnished” — C.Birde, 10/21

“Yes,

day’s length shrinks,

pinched

at either end…”

Her leaf-crowned head

rustled agreement.

“…but I’ve burnished

the light to

g o l d…”

— C.Birde, 10/21

Twilight Bloom — A Poem

An artfully altered photo looking skyward through a towering screen of bee-filled, pale purple asters.
“Asters” — C.Birde, 10/21

Autumn’s twilight

blooms,

this froth of asters,

bee-filled & spilling –

unbridled –

about the garden’s

unkempt edges

Lace-edged foam

of white,

lilac,

lavender

borne & tended

in courtly fashion

along an ebbing

surf of green…

— C.Birde, 10/21

Sing — An Image

An artfully altered photo of a tiny blue Asiatic Dayflower tucked amongst dry leaves against a stone wall.
“Asiatic Dayflower” — C.Birde, 10/21

“Do you hear me?”

Her voice ascended –

russet,

orange,

gold.

“I sing to you through

the trembling throats

of Autumn

wildflowers…”

— C.Birde, 10/21

Rabbit Blessed — A Poem

An artfully altered photo of a rabbit nibbling grass.
“Rabbit” — C.Birde, 10/21

Forgive the intrusion;

this chance encounter,

such great, good fortune…

Dark eyes stare, fixedly, unblinking.

Legends say your Ancestor

fought the Sun, demanded

decreased heat & light, & won…

Long ears twitch & hinge & pivot.

That four spots on your cinnamon fur –

on each hind leg, behind each ear –

mark that ancient victory…

Rear leg stretches, scuffs base of ear.

Myth says, too, you are companion

to the Moon, your likeness pressed

upon her, silver-gray…

Whiskers flick, nostrils flare.

Well suited, as you may need,

to contraction or release,

is your sleek musculature & economy of form…

Wide yawn precedes a full-length sprawl

beneath the bronze-green hedge.

Mischief contradiction of creativity,

you hide in plain sight, unseen,

a duality of self, at ease…

Folds front paws, rests chin;

eyes close.

The dish in hand slopes water;

place it, eddying, on shorn grass.

The moment of connection,

of trust & recognition

slips past.

Bid farewell.

Depart –

Rabbit-blessed,

content, &

light-of-heart.

— C.Birde, 10/21

Being — A Dream

A photo of a sketch from my Dream Journal of the creature described in this verse.
“Being” — C.Birde, 10/21

How?

How did we two – strangers to each other –

accomplish such a feat?

call this creature from penumbral obscurity

into being?

Full moon blooms beyond refracted panes,

rinses this place, this manor – labyrinthine –

in silvered light

Halls

chambers

corridors

crowd close from all sides, lean in

in long condensed & aged neglect, exhale

Rugs

furniture

gilt ornament

Beneath the pale moon’s benevolent eye,

as one, we two crouch, side-by-side,

astounded

breathless

exhilarant

peer beneath the glass table’s oblique lip

at this inarguable astonishment…

This blunt-tipped quadruped;

squat necked, squared head;

its torso thick, quadrangular;

of conclusive features, devoid…

Eyeless

Mouthless

Noseless

Boneless

And yet, curiously, fully animate

Of a tangerine shade so brilliant, bright,

& incandescent,

all darkness recedes as if repelled…

She – my unknown familiar friend –

extends her arm, her hand to trace…

The creature bucks, sprightly prances

to safety, out of reach, away…

“Hush & wait, do not frighten it…” I say,

“We first must win its confidence…”

Teasingly, it dances at the edge…

How?

How did we, two strangers-not –

despite darkness & abandonment,

from forgottenness nostalgic –

how did we call this creature forth

& into being?

We did.

— C.Birde, 10/21

Caught — An Image

An artfully altered photo of a Helianthus flower in full bloom, from behind.
“Helianthus” — C.Birde, 10/21

“Sometimes…”

her voice slipped,

in wink & rustle,

through narrow leaves,

“I sneak up

on unsuspecting blooms,

& catch them

in the act of

photosynthesis…”

— C.Birde, 10/21

Full — A Poem

An artfully altered photo of the Full Moon rising over the Porcupine Islands of Maine's Frenchman Bay.
“Full Moon” — C.Birde, 9/21

Sea

calmly addressing

rocky shore,

wavelets undulating

Moon

lifting, watery & fully

formed,

the surrounding dark,

obliterating

And I,

breath and pulse

re-synchronizing,

one witness amid those

witnessing

And I,

my pockets brimming

with silvered,

shining,

chiming slips of light

to carry home.

— C.Birde, 9/21

Asters — A Poem

An artfully altered photo looking up through the leafy stems and pink blooms of New England Asters.
“New England Asters” — C.Birde, 9/21

Air,

thick ribbed

with insect song;

Sky,

stretched taut

with cloud,

thinned blue;

Tremor,

soft wrenching,

     v i s c e r a l.

I think of you.

Small birds

sway clinging

to seed heads,

blown…

Always,

I think of

you.

 

— C.Birde, 9/21

Queen Oak — An Image

An artfully altered photo looking up the trunk of a great oak tree and through its leafy limbs.
“Queen Oak Tree” — C.Birde, 9/21

“I have written

your name

in a hundred million

places…

Blade of grass…

Curl of breeze…

The underneath

of a white oak’s leaves…”

Her wink scattered

beams of light.

“Are you

l o o k i n g?”

— C.Birde, 9/21